Festival Ballet Theatre's 8th Annual GALA OF THE STARS (2015)

8

th

ANNUAL

O F T H E S TA R S

FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2015

Featuring dancers from around the globe.

Main image | Xander Parish - Photo Courtesy of Valentin Baranovsky Gabe Stone Shayer - Photo Courtesy of R. Finkelstein | Skylar Brandt - Photo Courtesy of Erin Baiano | Lauren Cuthbertson - Photo: ŠROH/Tristram Kenton | Eric Underwood - Photo Courtesy of Emma Kauldhar

r ichard m acdonald

GALA OF THE STARS Dawson Cole Fine Art is pleased to present a collection of ballet works by sculptor Richard MacDonald. View the collection in the main entrance of the Irvine Barclay Theatre or visit one of our locations.

A portion of sales to benefit the American Festival Ballet.

DAWSON COLE FINE ART L AGUNA BEACH 326 Glenneyre Street (949) 497-4988 PALM DESERT 73-199 El Paseo, Suite H (760) 303-4300 dawsoncolefineart.com

dawson cole F I N E

Sissone, Half Life, Bronze by Richard MacDonald

A R T

Greeting

FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

With great pleasure, I welcome you to our 8th annual Gala of the Stars, Orange County’s International Ballet Festival. This event has become one the most anticipated celebrations of ballet because of its uniqueness and should not be missed. It is unprecedented to see so many revered guest artists from the world’s most prestigious ballet companies take the stage with our beautiful company dancers and the amazing stars of tomorrow. I am honored to welcome these extraordinary artists to Orange County.

Up and coming dancers are given the incredible opportunity to share the stage with today’s stars of ballet. I am very grateful to Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) for collaborating with FBT to present this spectacular event. This is a very valuable life experience for these young dancers who will have the chance to boast all of their hard work, perfect their craft and give you a glimpse of a wonderful future for the world of dance.

I would like to thank our gala sponsors, the Festival Ballet Guild, and the many individuals who have contributed to making this night possible. The involvement of our community has always been essential to FBT’s growth and I am thankful to everyone for their support.

I look forward to seeing you throughout our upcoming season, which will deliver something for everyone. In October, pirates, sultans and beautiful harems charm the Barclay stage in a suite of passages from the romantic adventure, Le Corsaire. This performance will also include a special mixed repertoire featuring pieces from Bournonville; Balanchine's Concerto Barocco; Pas d'Action from Laurencia, set by Yuri Fateyev, acting director of the Mariinsky Ballet Company; and a world premiere of a contemporary piece. Our Nutcracker, which has become a yearly tradition for many Orange County families, runs from December 12th through the 24th. In March, the fabled storybook favorites come alive as we present the full-length production of the beloved classical ballet, Sleeping Beauty.

I thank you for your continued patronage and support and hope you will treasure tonight’s magical event.

Salwa Rizkalla

PRESENTERS Festival Ballet Theatre, under the direction of Salwa Rizkalla, since its founding in 1988, Festival Ballet Theatre has become one of the west coast’s most vibrant and accomplished professional ballet companies. Celebrating over 25 years of artistic service to Orange County, FBT is dedicated to presenting works that epitomize the artistry of professional ballet, offering cultural awareness of dance through educational programs, and nurturing a creative environment for dancers of all levels.

Boasting a roster of impressive, up-andcoming talent; the company’s productions feature internationally acclaimed guest artists from prestigious companies, such as American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, the Kirov Ballet, New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and the San Francisco Ballet.

Festival Ballet Theatre strives to enrich the experience of Orange County’s dance audience by highlighting the work of world-renowned guest and resident choreographers. With reverence to masterpieces of the past and a clear focus on developing future tours de force, FBT presents a varied repertoire of full-length classical ballets, including The Nutcracker, Coppelia, Don Quixote, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, as well as contemporary works by some of the nation’s most sought-after choreographers.

Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) is the world’s largest international student ballet scholarship competition held annually around the world and in New York City.

Founded by two former dancers of the world-renowned Bolshoi Ballet, Larissa and Gennadi Saveliev, YAGP provides extraordinary educational and professional opportunities to young dancers, including the opportunity to receive contracts to dance companies worldwide, scholarships to leading dance schools in the U.S. and abroad, and performance opportunities on some of the world’s most prestigious stages and at dance festivals around the world.

Over 200 YAGP alumni are now dancing with 50 companies around the world, including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet and San Francisco Ballet, among others.

2015 With Special Thanks To American Ballet Theatre Mariinsky Ballet New York City Ballet Pennsylvania Ballet San Francisco Ballet Royal Ballet

GUEST FACULTY

Larissa Saveliev Founder and Artistic Director, YAGP

Misha Tchoupakov Former dancer, Bolshoi Ballet

Christopher Powney Artistic Director The Roayl Ballet School, UK

Gennadi Saveliev Former soloist, American Ballet Theatre Founder and Artistic Director, YAGP

Alexander Kalinin Character Ballet Master

Gioia Masala Princess Grace Academy Monaco & International Repetiteur

Zak Schlegel Contemporary Teacher and Choreographer

Didy Veldman World-Renowned Choreographer

Yuri Fateyev Acting Director Mariinsky Ballet

Haruko Kawanishi YAGP Japan Representative

SOUTHLAND BALLET ACADEMY RESIDENT FACULTY Lana Brooks Elizabeth Farmen Marci Goedl Kathy Kahn Marina Kalinin

Hanna Karacic Askar Kettebekov Megan Lafferty Natalie Matsuura Taylor Needham

Christine Nunez Zak Schlegel Lauren Shavitz Stella Viorica

GALA PROGRAM - Friday, August 14, 2015 – 6:00pm Founding and Artistic Director:

Salwa Rizkalla Master of Ceremonies:

Carla Körbes Associate Artistic Director of LA Dance Project and former principal dancer of Pacific Northwest Ballet

A C T VARIATION FROM COPPELIA Lily Turner

I

Choreographer: Arthur St. Leon Composer: Léo Delibes

Southland Ballet Academy 2015 YAGP Finalist

PRESTO Lex Ishimoto

Choreographer: Zak Schlegel Composer: Ezio Bosso & The Turin String Quartet

Southland Ballet Academy West Coast Academy of Dance 2015 YAGP Finalist

VARIATION FROM SLEEPING BEAUTY Anya Lydon

Choreographer: Marius Petipa Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Southland Ballet Academy 2015 YAGP Finalist

VARIATION FROM LA BAYADERE Itsuku Masuda

Choreographer: Marius Petipa Composer: Ludwig Minkus

K.classic-ballet Studio 2015 YAGP Finalist

LAURENCIA AJ Abrams, Wil Geary, Cameron Schwanz, Mariana Carrillo, Renee Kester, Hannah Schiller, Sydney Danci, Gillian George, Natalie Matsuura & Tiffany Yamasaki

TALK TO HER Lorena Feijoo and Vitor Luiz

Choreographer: Vakhtang Chabukiani Composer: Alexander Crain Staged by: Yuri Fateyev

Choreographer: Yuri Possokhov Composer: Alberto Iglesias

TCHAIKOVSKY PAS DE DEUX

Choreographer: George Balanchine

Amy Aldridge & Andrew Veyette

Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

The performance of Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, a Balanchine® Ballet, is presented by arrangement with The George Balanchine Trust and has been produced in accordance with the Balanchine Style® and Balanchine Technique® Service standards established and provided by the Trust.

DYING SWAN

Choreographer: Calvin Richardson

Eric Underwood

Composer: Saint-Saëns

SATANELLA PAS DE DEUX

Choreographer: Marius Petipa

Jamie Kopit & Patrick Frenette

Composer: Cesare Pugni

SWAN LAKE PAS DE DEUX

Choreographer: Lev Ivanov, Marius Petipa

Lauren Cuthbertson & Xander Parish

Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

INTERMISSION

A C T VARIATION FROM DON QUIXOTE Moorea Pike

I I Choreographer: Marius Petipa Composer: Ludwig Minkus

Southland Ballet Academy 2015 YAGP Finalist

VARIATION FROM TALISMAN Mei Nagahisa

Choreographer: Marius Petipa Composer: Riccardo Drigo

Princess Grace Academy 2015 YAGP Finalist

VARIATION FROM GISELLE Daichi Ikarashi

Choreographer: Jules Perrot, Jean Coralli Composer: Adolphe Adam

Royal Ballet Academy 2105 YAGP Finalist

VARIATION FROM LA FILLE MAL GARDEE Choreographer: Dimitri Romanoff Ashley Lew

Composer: Peter Ludwig Hertel

Southland Ballet Academy 2015 YAGP Finalist

VARIATION FROM SATANELLA Elena Iseki

Choreographer: Marius Petipa Composer: Cesare Pugni

Berlin State Ballet School 2015 YAGP Finalist

PAS DE DEUX FROM RUBIES Amy Aldridge & Andrew Veyette

Choreographer: Geoorge Balanchine Composer: Igor Stravinsky

The performance of Pas de Deux from Rubies, a Balanchine® Ballet, is presented by arrangement with The George Balanchine Trust and has been produced in accordance with the Balanchine Style® and Balanchine Technique® Service standards established and provided by the Trust.

BALLET 101 Xander Parish

Composers: Eric Gauthier

PAS DE DEUX FROM FLAMES OF PARIS Skylar Brandt & Gabe Stone Shayer

Choreographer: Vasili Vainonen Composer: Boris Asafyev

SWIMMER Lorena Feijoo & Vitor Luiz

Choreographer: Yuri Possokhov Composer: Shinji Eshima

CHROMA Lauren Cuthbertson & Eric Underwood

Choreographer: Eric Gauthier

Choreographer: Wayne McGregor

Composer: Joby Talbot

GUEST ARTISTS Amy Aldridge Born in Richmond, Virginia, Amy Aldridge is a graduate of the North Carolina School for the Arts, where she received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence and had the privilege of studying with Alonzo King, Jacques d’Amboise, Melissa Hayden, and Arthur Mitchell. Ms. Aldridge began her dance training at the School of Richmond Ballet and continued with The School of American Ballet and the Boston Ballet School.

Ms. Aldridge rose through the ranks at Pennsylvania Ballet to a promotion to Principal Dancer in 2001. Ms. Aldridge has performed principal roles in numerous works, including The Taming of the Shrew, Cinderella, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Sleeping Beauty, La Fille mal gardée, Alexei Ratmansky's Jeu de Cartes, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™, Square Dance, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Ballo della Regina, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, and Rubies from Jewels. She has also performed featured roles in Twyla Tharp’s Push Comes to Shove and Nine Sinatra Songs (“That’s Life”); Christopher Wheeldon's Polyphonia and Swan Lake, William Forsythe’s In

the middle, somewhat elevated and The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude; Peter Martins’ Barber Violin Concerto; Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort; and George Balanchine’s Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, Allegro Brillante, Theme and Variations, The Four Temperaments, Agon, Apollo, Serenade (Russian Girl), Valse Fantasie, Who Cares?, Monumentum pro Gesualdo, and Movements for Piano and Orchestra. In addition, Ms. Aldridge has created original roles for Dwight Rhoden’s 2x7, Trey McIntyre’s Plush and Cantilena, Matthew Neenan’s Keep and As It’s Going, and Jorma Elo’s Pulcinella. Ms. Aldridge has appeared internationally as part of the Sintra Festival in Portugal, the Northwest Phalen Tanz Festival in Germany (with choreographer Kevin O’Day) and with the Stars of New York Ballet in London. In May 2004, she performed as a guest artist with New York City Ballet dancing Tarantella as part of the George Balanchine Centennial Celebrations. She has also appeared with BalletX in Neenan’s Broke Apart, Elo’s Scenes View 2, and at Jacob’s Pillow in Summer 2006.

Skylar Brandt Skylar Brandt was born in Purchase, New York and began her training at the age of six with teachers Diana White and Christian Claessens at Scarsdale Ballet Studio. She also studied with Valentina Kozlova, Fabrice Herrault, and Susan Jaffe. She attended the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre from 2005-2009 under the direction of Franco De Vita. Brandt spent five summers at ABT's New York Summer Intensive, was a National Training Scholar from 20062009 and also received the Bender Foundation Scholarship in 2009. She performed the Flames of Paris pas de deux, Swanilda in Coppélia, the Act I pas de trois from Swan Lake, the lead in Les Sylphides and the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker. Brandt was a silver medalist at Youth America Grand Prix in 2004 and 2008. As a student, she performed at the Metropolitan Opera House in The Royal Ballet's Cinderella, ABT's Le Corsaire, Coppélia, The Sleeping Beauty and ABT's 2009 Spring Gala. Brandt was invited to dance for the Antony Tudor Centennial Celebration at the Juilliard School. In 2007, she choreographed and performed in a DVD for Capezio's national campaign. Brandt joined ABT II in 2009 where her repertoire included Medora in the Le Corsaire pas de trois,

Aurora from The Sleeping Beauty and leading roles in Aszure Barton's Barbara, Jodie Gates' A Taste of Sweet Velvet, Edwaard Liang's Ballo Per Sei and Jessica Lang's Vivacce Motifs. She also danced George Balanchine's Allegro Brillante and Jerome Robbins' Interplay. Brandt became an apprentice with the main Company in November 2010 and joined the corps de ballet in June 2011. Her roles with the Company include a Shade in La Bayadère, the Fairy Spring in Frederick Ashton's Cinderella, an Odalisque in Le Corsaire, a Flower Girl in Don Quixote, the Canteen Keeper, the Chinese Dance and one of the Nutcracker's Sisters in Alexei Ratmansky's The Nutcracker, the Younger Sister in Pillar of Fire, the pas de trois and a little swan in Swan Lake and roles in Bach Partita, Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes, Gong, In the Upper Room, Piano Concerto #1, Raymonda Divertissements and Sinfonietta. She created the Fairy Canri qui chante (Canary) in Alexei Ratmansky's The Sleeping Beauty. Brandt has performed in several international gala performances. Brandt was awarded a 2013 Princess Grace Foundation-USA Dance Fellowship.

Lauren Cuthbertson English dancer Lauren Cuthbertson is a Principal with The Royal Ballet. She studied with The Royal Ballet School as a junior associate and at White Lodge and the Upper School, and graduated into the Company in 2002. She was promoted to Soloist in 2002, First Soloist in 2006 and Principal in 2008, becoming the youngest female Principal in the Company.

Cuthbertson was born in Devon and started dancing at the age of three. Her roles with the Company have included Juliet, Manon, Aurora (The Sleeping Beauty), Giselle and Odette/Odile (Swan Lake). Christopher Wheeldon created the title role in his Alice's Adventures in Wonderland on

Cuthbertson, describing her 'unique ability to make her dramatic persona on stage natural, honest, fresh and to the point'. Cuthbertson's other role creations include Hermione (Wheeldon's The Winter's Tale) and in Wayne McGregor's Tetractys. In 2007, Cuthbertson won an Arts and Culture Women of the Future Award. Other awards include silver at the Varna International Ballet Competition in 2006 and the 2004 Critics' Circle Award for Outstanding Classical Award. Devoted to inspiring the next generation of dancers, she is an active patron of both National Youth Ballet and London Children's Ballet.

GUEST ARTISTS Lorena Feijoo Born in Havana, Cuba, Lorena Feijoo trained at the National Ballet School of Cuba. She began her career at National Ballet of Cuba and danced with Ballet of Monterrey, Royal Ballet of Flanders, and The Joffrey Ballet prior to joining San Francisco Ballet as a principal dancer in 1999. Feijoo’s major roles include Giselle in Tomasson’s Giselle; Queen of the Snow, Sugar Plum Fairy, and Grand Pas de Deux Ballerina in Tomasson’s Nutcracker; Aurora in Tomasson’s The Sleeping Beauty; Juliet in Tomasson’s Romeo & Juliet; Odette/Odile in Tomasson’s Swan Lake; Kitri in Tomasson/Possokhov’s Don Quixote; Bianca in Lubovitch’s Othello; and Goddess Diana in Morris’ Sylvia. She created principal roles in Tomasson’s Blue Rose and On Common Ground; Caniparoli’s Ibsen’s House and Tears; Possokhov’s Diving into the Lilacs, Fusion, Reflections, Study in Motion, and Talk to Her (hable con ella); Ratmansky’s Le Carnaval des Animaux; Wheeldon’s Quaternary and Number Nine; and Zanella’s Underskin. Her repertory includes Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Apollo, Ballo della Regina, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (1st movement), Divertimento No. 15, “Emeralds,” Symphony in C, The Four Temperaments, “Rubies,” Serenade, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Symphony in C, Symphony in Three Movements, Tarantella, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, and Theme and Variations; Caniparoli’s Death of a Moth, No Other, and

Lambarena; Forsythe’s Artifact Suite and in the middle, somewhat elevated; Lubovitch’s “…smile with my heart;” MacMillan’s Elite Syncopations and Winter Dreams; Makarova’s (after Petipa) Kingdom of the Shades, Act II from La Bayadère (Nikiya) and Paquita; McGregor’s Chroma; Morris’ Sandpaper Ballet and Pacific; Nureyev’s Raymonda— Act III; Possokhov’s The Rite of Spring; Ratmansky’s Shostakovich Trilogy (Symphony #9 and Chamber Symphony); Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering, Fanfare, In the Night, and West Side Story Suite; Scarlett’s Hummingbird; Taylor’s Company B; Tomasson’s Chaconne for Piano and Two Dancers, Confidencias, The Fifth Season, Quartette, Le Quattro Stagioni, Trio, Tuning Game, and Twilight; Tudor’s Jardin aux Lilas; Welch’s Tu Tu; and Wheeldon’s After the Rain (pas de deux), Ghosts, Polyphonia, and Sea Pictures. As a guest artist, Feijoo has performed extensively, including the pas de deux from Don Quixote at the Benois de la Danse gala at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow in 2011; Garcia’s Majismo at the American Ballet Theatre gala honoring José Manuel Carreño in 2011; and in ACT’s The Tosca Project in San Francisco in 2010. Feijoo was nominated for the Benois de la Danse Award in June 2011 and received the Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Best Ensemble Performance with Joan Boada for Tomasson/Possokhov’s Don Quixote in 2003.

Patrick Frenette Patrick Frenette was born in Vancouver, Canada. He began his early training at the Goh Ballet Academy under the instruction of Ms. Fiona Smith. In 2008, his family relocated to California to further his professional ballet training with former ABT dancer Chris Martin and former Bolshoi Ballet dancer Dmitri Kulev. He was a two-time recipient of the Senior Grand Prix award at the Youth America Grand Prix's regional competitions. In 2011, he was also awarded the Mary Day Award for Outstanding Artistry. Frenette began studying full time at SAB in 2012, and was awarded The Rudolf Nureyev

Foundation Scholarship while there. He studied with Jock Soto and Suki Schorer, and also performed in New York Choreographic Institute workshops. He performed a principal role in George Balanchine's Divertimento No. 15 in his graduation performance. Frenette joined ABT as an apprentice in 2013 and became a member of the corps de ballet in January 2014. His repertoire has included the Recruit in Alexei Ratmansy's The Nutcracker and roles in all of the Company's full-length ballets.

Jamie Kopit Born in Fountain Valley, California, Jamie Kopit began dancing at the age of 3 at Southland Ballet Academy. There she studied under the instruction of Salwa Rizkalla until 2009. Kopit attended San Francisco's 2008 Summer session and was offered a scholarship for 2009. That same year, she received the Grand Prix award in the Senior Division at YAGP in Los Angeles, and went on to the Final Round in New York City, where she was awarded a scholarship to The Royal Ballet's Summer Session and an invitation to study year round. During her studies at the Royal Ballet School, Kopit performed with

The Royal Ballet in "Invitation to the Ballet" at The Lowry as a Pawn in De Valois' Checkmate. She performed in the school's performance of Macmillan's Concerto on the Main Stage at the Royal Opera House. From 2010 to 2011, she performed and toured with Birmingham Royal Ballet in David Bintley's Premiere of Cinderella. Kopit joined ABT in 2011 as an apprentice and the corps de ballet in October 2011. Her repertoire includes the Canteen Keeper in Alexei Ratmanky’s The Nutcracker and Red Riding Hood in The Sleeping Beauty, as well as roles in all of the Company’s full-length ballets.

GUEST ARTISTS Vitor Luiz Born in Juiz de Fora, Brazil, Vitor Luiz trained with Victor Navarro and Dalal Achcar, Pedro Kraszczuck, and The Royal Ballet School. He began his professional career with Birmingham Royal Ballet and performed as a principal dancer with Ballet do Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro prior to joining San Francisco Ballet as a principal dancer in 2009.

Among Luiz’ major roles are Albrecht in Tomasson’s Giselle, Nutcracker Prince and King of the Snow in Tomasson’s Nutcracker, Mercutio in Tomasson’s Romeo & Juliet, Prince Siegfried in Tomasson’s Swan Lake, Basilio in Tomasson/Possokhov’s Don Quixote, Franz in Balanchine’s Coppélia, and Onegin in Cranko’s Onegin. He created roles in Tomasson’s Trio, Caniparoli’s Tears, Liang’s Symphonic Dances, Possokhov’s Talk to Her, Wheeldon’s Number Nine, and Zanella’s Underskin. His repertory also includes Ashton’s Symphonic Variations; Balanchine’s Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (2nd movement), Divertimento No. 15, Serenade, Symphony in C, and Theme and Variations; Caniparoli’s Ibsen’s House; Lifar’s Suite en Blanc; MacMillan’s Winter

Dreams; Makarova’s (after Petipa) Kingdom of the Shades, Act II from La Bayadère (Solor); Nureyev’s Raymonda—Act III; Possokhov’s Classical Symphony, RAkU, and The Rite of Spring; Ratmansky’s From Foreign Lands, Russian Seasons, and Shostakovich Trilogy (Piano Concerto #1); Scarlett’s Hummingbird; Tomasson’s 7 for Eight, Caprice, Concerto Grosso, Criss-Cross, The Fifth Season, “Haffner” Symphony, Prism, and the pas de deux from Tuning Game; and Wheeldon’s Ghosts and Within the Golden Hour. As a guest artist, Luiz performed with Lorena Feijoo at World Gala of Dance in the Dominican Republic and Gala Evening of Stars in Aspen, Colorado, in 2009; at the TITAS Command Performance of International Ballet in Dallas and the XIII International Ballet Fest of Miami in 2008; and at the Razzle Dazzle Gala in Stamford, Connecticut, and the Gala of International Ballet Stars in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2007. Luiz was nominated for the Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Best Ensemble Performance in Possokhov’s Classical Symphony during the 2010 Repertory Season.

Xander Parish

Born in Yorkshire, Great Britain, Xander Parish began dancing at the Skelton Hooper School of Dance in Hull at the age of 8.

He joined the Royal Ballet Lower School, White Lodge in 1998 and continued his training at the Royal Ballet Upper School from 2002-2005. While at the Upper School, Xander won the Ursula Moreton Choreographic Award (2003), The Young British Dancer of the Year Award (2nd prize 2004) and a Silver Medal at the Genée International Ballet Competition (Athens, 2004). Xander joined The Royal Ballet Company in August 2005 along with his sister Demelza. They were the first brother and sister to be members of The Royal Ballet together. There Xander’s repertoire included: The Sleeping Beauty (Lilac Fairy Cavalier), The Nutcracker (Arabian Dance, Waltz of the Flowers), Swan Lake (Cadets, Mazurka), La Fille Mal Gardee (Colas’ Friends), Les Patineurs (Brown Boys), McGregor’s Dido and Aeneas and Fenton’s Song Without Words and Seacastles. Xander created roles in Wheeldon’s DGV: danse a grand vitesse, Tuckett’s The Seven Deadly Sins and Fenton’s Monument. He also choreographed for The Royal Ballet’s Draftworks program. In 2009, Xander was invited to join The Mariinsky Ballet by its ballet director Yuri Fateyev and joined the company in January 2010 aged 23 as its first and only British dancer. His repertoire includes: Prince Seigfried

(Swan Lake), Count Albrecht (Giselle), Prince Desiré (The Sleeping Beauty), Romeo (Romeo & Juliet), The Nutcracker Prince (The Nutcracker ch. Nainonen), Vronsky (Anna Karenina ch. Ratmansky), The Golden Slave (Schéhérazade), The Poet (Chopiniana/Les Sylphides), John the Baptist (Salome ch. Faski), Ashton’s Sylvia (Aminta) and Marguerite & Armand (Armand), Balanchine ballets including Apollo, Jewels (Emeralds & Diamonds), Serenade (Waltz, Elegy) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Demetrius), Hans Van Manen’s Adagio Hammerklavier & Variations For Two Couples, Milllepied’s Without and McGregor’s Infra. His guesting repertoire includes Gauthier’s Ballet 101, Le Spectre de la Rose and Ratmansky’s Cinderella (meeting duet). Xander has toured with the Mariinsky Ballet to Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Oman, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, UK, and the USA, and has been a guest artist with The Kremlin Ballet and has also performed with Roberto Bolle and Friends. Xander was the recipient of the Taglioni Award in the category “Best Young Male Dancer” (Berlin, 2014), the recipient of the Léonide Massine Prize in the category “Emerging Talent on the International Scene” (Positano, Italy, 2014) and won the UK Critic’s Circle National Dance Awards “Best Performance” category for Apollo 2014.

GUEST ARTISTS Gabe Stone Shayer Gabe Stone Shayer was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1993. He began his formal training at 11 with Alexei Boltov and Alexei and Natalia Cherov in Philadelphia. At 13 he was offered the lead role in the world premiere of a modern ballet, Darfur as a guest principal with the Rebecca Davis Dance Company, which subsequently toured the United States. At 14, Shayer began training full time as a scholarship student at The Rock School for Dance Education where he performed many classical and contemporary variations, pas de deux and ensembles. He danced numerous Nutcracker roles including the Cavalier. In the 2009 YAGP International Finals, Shayer, at 15, placed in the top twelve for his pas de deux in the Senior Category. The same year he attended the Bolshoi Ballet Academy program in Moscow and won First Place for Best Male Dancer. At the 2010 YAGP semi-finals, Shayer won the Grand Prix Award and was a finalist in the New York International Competition. He received numerous scholarships, most notably to the John Cranko School in Stuttgart, Germany and the Princess Grace Academy in Monaco. In 2010, at the

USAIBC in Jackson, Mississippi, he proceeded to the final round. He continued his studies at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow where he was asked to join the graduating class of eight boys under the tutelage of Ilya Kuznetsov. Shayer also toured with the Academy and the Bolshoi Ballet in Italy and Greece, performing in La Fille Mal Gardée and The Nutcracker. While in Russia, he performed for many dignitaries including the President of Slovakia and Dr. Joseph Biden on the Vice Presidential visit to Moscow. In 2011, Shayer performed as a soloist in Prokofiev's Classical Symphony in Proteges III at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D. C. He joined the ABT Studio Company in September 2011, the main Company as an apprentice in April 2012 and the corps de ballet in November 2012. His repertoire with the Company includes the lead Gypsy in Don Quixote; Harlequin, the Chinese Dance and the Russian Dance in Alexei Ratmansky's The Nutcracker; Ariel in The Tempest; roles in Bach Partita and Piano Concerto #1,Bluebird in Sleeping Beauty, as well as roles in all of the full-length ballets.

Eric Underwood American dancer Eric Underwood is a Soloist of The Royal Ballet. He joined the Company in 2006 as a First Artist and was promoted to Soloist in 2008. In his first Season with the Company he created roles in Christopher Wheeldon's DGV: Danse à grande vitesse and Wayne McGregor's Chroma. He has gone on to create roles for Wheeldon in Aeternum, Electric Counterpoint and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (the Caterpillar), and for McGregor in Chroma, Infra, Acis and Galatea, Live Fire Exercise, Raven Girl, Tetractys and Woolf Works. Underwood was born in Washington D.C. and aged 14 began training locally with Barbara Marks. At the end of his first year he joined the School of American Ballet, New York, later winning the school's Philip Morris Foundation Scholarship. He

graduated into the Dance Theatre of Harlem in 2000 and was promoted to soloist at the end of the season, before moving to American Ballet Theatre in 2003. His repertory there included Von Rothbart (Swan Lake), High Brahmin (La Bayadère), Officer (Cinderella), Gaoler and Gentleman (Manon), Apollo (Sylvia) as well as roles in The Four Temperaments, Agon, Work Within Work and In the Upper Room. Underwood's Royal Ballet repertory includes Mrs Pettitoes (Tales of Beatrix Potter), Gaoler (Manon), Consort to the Queen of Fire (Homage to The Queen), Southern Cape Zebra (‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café), Tryst and roles in Serenade, Qualia, Aeternum and The Four Temperaments. For The Royal Opera he has danced in Faust, directed by David McVicar.

Andrew Veyette Andrew Veyette was born in Denver, Colorado, and began his dance training at the age of nine, studying with Betty Downs at Dance Arts in Visalia, California. Mr. Veyette continued his studies at Westside Ballet in Santa Monica, California. While at Westside Ballet, Mr. Veyette trained with Yvonne Mounsey and was personally coached by Nader Hamed. Mr. Veyette entered the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, in the fall of 1998. In the spring of 2000, Mr. Veyette became an apprentice with New York City Ballet, and later that season he joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet. In March of 2006 he was promoted to the rank of soloist, and he became a principal dancer in May 2007. Since joining New York City Ballet, Mr. Veyette has danced featured roles in George Balanchine’s Agon, Allegro Brillante, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (third movement), Coppélia (Frantz), Danses Concertantes, Divertimento No. 15, Donizetti Variations, The Four Temperaments, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker (Cavalier, Hot Chocolate), Harlequinade (Harlequin), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Oberon, Lysander), Raymonda Variations, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Stars and Stripes,

Square Dance, Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3 (Theme and Variations), and Western Symphony; Jerome Robbins’ Brandenburg, Fancy Free, Fanfare (Clarinets), The Four Seasons (Fall), Interplay, Moves, Les Noces, N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz and West Side Story Suite; Jerome Robbins and Twyla Tharps’ Brahms/Handel; Peter Martins’ A Fool For You, Hallelujah Junction, Jeu de Cartes, The Magic Flute (Luke), Romeo + Juliet (Mercutio), The Sleeping Beauty (Prince Désiré, Bluebird, and Asia), Swan Lake (Benno and Spanish), and Zakouski; Christopher Wheeldon’s Carousel (A Dance) and Polyphonia; Mauro Bigonzetti’s In Vento; Eliot Feld’s Backchat; Lynn Taylor-Corbett’s Chiaroscuro; and Alexei Ratmansky’s Concerto DSCH. Mr. Veyette also originated featured roles in Mr. Martins’ Grazioso, Naïve and Sentimental Music, and The Red Violin; Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux’s Two Birds with the Wings of One; Alexey Miroshnichenko’s The Lady with The Little Dog; Richard Tanner’s Soirée; and Christopher Wheeldon’s Estancia. Mr. Veyette is a Mae L. Wien Award recipient for 2000. While at SAB, he studied under the Janice Levin Scholarship.

Festival Ballet Theatre Salwa Rizkalla Artistic Director

O F T H E S TA R S

T H A N K YO U

TO O U R G E N E R O U S S U P P O R T E R S

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THE LYDON FAMILY

Special thanks to

THANK YOU Â 2015 SUMMER INTENSIVE DANCERS Mirei Arai Tatum Backer Joshua Binowitz Sage Bolar Nate Bowman-Sindt Natalie Burkley Natalia Burns Sydney Caggegi Sharon Chen Courtney Chiu Kaili Corsten Jordan Coutts Ashley Do Callista Do Bella Do Mallorie Fouser Elana Gelfer-Mundl Gillian George Jaden Golden Olivia Harrigan Sarah Hart Sydney Hartwick Ryoto Hasegawa Elizabeth Henderson Eliza Herzfeld Ryo Hinoue Hailey Holcomb Fuzuki Horii Bella Hoy

Lauren Hunter Daichi Ikarashi Kana Imagawa Chisato Inoko Elena Iseki Reika Ishii Lex Ishimoto Mai Ito Pierce Johnson Katie Jones Julianna Jordan Yuma Kainuma Anjoulie Kempton Heidi Kim Yusei Kobayashi Caroline Kornelsen Christopher Krofchuk Mime Kusano Brianna Lange Allison Langston Avery LeBlanc Michelle Lemburg Elisia Leung Ashley Lew Valerie Lin Phoebe Lin Amanda Luyks Silvi Lybbert Anya Lydon

Hitoha Maeda Yoshiki Maeyama Alexa Martinez Clara Mason Kyo Masuda Itsuku Masuda Yuina Matsumoto Mikoto Matsuura Lucas Matzkin Mei Nagahisa Sasara Nakagami Elise Newen Cassidy Nguyen Maliya Ninofranco Takuju Nishida Ayako Okamoto Skye Petersen Moorea Pike Gavin Pike Leilah Prevost Gianna Pritchard Bella Riggione Susanna Russell Sophia Sabet Grace Schweitzer Lazarus Shapiro Athena Skiathitis Alexander (Alexi) Skinner Reagan Smith

Julia Springer Kanako Suzuki Yuri Tamagawa Remina Tanaka David Thompson Ning Tong Satya (Pravda) Tranfield Hazuki Tsukagoshi Lily Turner Yuka Ueda Lauren Van Elea VanderBurgh Victoria Veling Eliana Vogel Gabrielle Vogel Megan Vu Vanessa Vu Bianca Wajack Jack Wang Hanna Weiss Alessia Weiss Emma Weston Grace Wilcox Ava Winer Towako Wunsch Ayami Yamauchi Renee Yang Hana Yasue LilaRose Yelin

2015 SUMMER INTENSIVE CHAPPERONES Nobuko Kaji

Misa Oga

Shinobu Sakaguchi

Naomi Swilley

TECHNICAL STAFF Elizabeth Farmen, Assistant to the Artistic Director Dave Friedman and Rob Gage, Company Photographers Don Guy, Lighting Director

Marianne Hales, Graphic Designer Tracy Sellers, Marketing/Communications Marilyn Wiederin, Program Designer

FESTIVAL BALLET THEATRE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Salwa Rizkalla, President Lisa Yamashita, Vice President Willa Bouwens-Killeen, Treasurer Cathleen Hunter, Secretary

GUILD CHAIRS Teri Schmidt, Grants Alisa Ziebarth, Volunteer Chair Kathryn Weber, Boutique Chair Sandy Mason, Hospitality Chair

ADVISORY BOARD Tom Lydon Katherine Ahn, DDS Curtis Holdsworth Mike Lemburg

Special thanks to the wonderful staff of the Irvine Barclay Theatre!

YOUTH AMERICA GRAND PRIX 2016 WORLD'S LARGEST STUDENT BALLET COMPETITION Under the auspices of CID/UNESCO

INTERNATIONAL SEMI-FINALS BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA August 22-24, 2015

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL September 15-20, 2015

CÓRDOBA, MÉXICO October 26-29, 2015

PARIS, FRANCE October 29-November 1, 2015

BEIJING, PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (NEW) November 13-16, 2015

OSAKA JAPAN November 18-22, 2015

U.S. REGIONAL SEMI-FINALS TAMPA, FL

PITTSBURGH, PA

January 8-10, 2016

February 5-7, 2016

SEATTLE, WA

LAS VEGAS, NV

January 8-10, 2016

February 12-14, 2016

PHILADELPHIA, PA

DENVER, CO

January 15-17, 2016

February 19-21, 2016

AUSTIN, TX

HOUSTON, TX

January 15-17, 2016

February 26-28, 2016

ATLANTA, GA

SALT LAKE CITY, UT (NEW)

January 22-24, 2016

February 25-27, 2016

LOS ANGELES, CA

INDIANAPOLIS, IN

January 22-24, 2016

March 4-6, 2016

DALLAS, TX

SAN FRANCISCO, CA

January 28-31, 2016

March 4-6, 2016

SAN DIEGO, CA

BOSTON, MA

January 29-31, 2016

March 18-20, 2016

With a heavy-heart and great sadness we say good-bye to the most reassuring and calming voice at YAGP, Ms. Shelley King.

CHICAGO, IL February 5-7, 2016

YAGP 2016 FINALS NEW YORK CITY

For additional information and to register, please visit WWW.YAGP.ORG youthamericagrandprix

April 22-28, 2015

YAGPVids

@yagp

@yagp

Photo credit: Taylor Brandt.

We will miss you tremendously, Salwa and all the summer program students, teachers and Gala artists.

Sheer Perfection Say hello to Lulli, the chic new dance fashion collection exclusively yours at Discount Dance Supply.

Brilliant sheer fabrics fused with elegant designs for an inspiring new look.

OVER 500 NEW STYLES ADDED FOR FALL! DISCOUNTDANCE.COM/LULLI

Elina Miettinen | American Ballet Theatre

Let Your Outer Image Complement your Inner Beauty

proudly supports

Festival Ballet Theatre

The Image Center is dedicated to improving your image and your health by offering you excellence in plastic surgery, cosmetic and family dentistry, medically advanced skin care and wellness... all in one state-of-the-art location.

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DR. PETER NEWEN, MD • • • •

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The Image Center Center for Excellence in Aesthetics & Wellness 7801 Center Avenue, Huntington Beach, CA 92647

714.230.2400

www.ImageCenter.info

Thank you to Salwa Rizkalla and the world-class visiting faculty for an artistic and inspiring summer intensive!

Nathaniel Bowman and Family

Proud to be the official shoe of Festival Ballet Theatre and Southland Ballet Academy

blochworld.com

Bloch Dancer Polina Semionova, Principal, Staatsballet Berlin. Photographer Stella del Monaco. Polina wears Bloch custom shoe.

Official School of Festival Ballet Theatre

Dedicated to Excellence.

Year-long classes offered for ages 3-adult.

BALLET

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SUMMER PROGRAMS FOR ALL AGES. FOUNTAIN VALLEY 714.962.5440 9527 Garfield Ave., Fountain Valley, CA 92708

IRVINE 949.757.1936

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With reverence to masterpieces of the past and a clear focus on developing future tours de force, Festival Ballet Theatre presents a full season of classical ballet and contemporary repertoire.

Festival Ballet Theatre is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. www.festivalballet.org | 714.962.5440

ORANGE COUNTY’S FESTIVAL BALLET THEATRE PRESENTS

Nutcracker illustration by Rene Milot

DEC 12 • 24

The Sugar Plum Fairy sweetly requests your presence for our dazzling production of The Nutcracker.

OCTOBER 10 • 11

MARCH 19

LE CORSAIRE SUITE

SLEEPING BEAUTY

& MIXED REPERTOIRE

Tickets online 24/7:

thebarclay.org | festivalballet.org | 949.854.4646

•

20, 2016